Ross D. Franklin/Associated PressTexas' Quan Cosby exults after the first of his two touchdown catches on Monday night in the Fiesta Bowl against Ohio State. Cosby's second catch, with 16 seconds remaining, was the game-winner for the Longhorns.More Ohio State

GLENDALE, Ariz. -- They'd roomed together in the preseason, talking about baseball games before the lights went off, and then three games into the season, the freshman took the senior's job.

Terrelle Pryor was the blazing future and Todd Boeckman was part of a successful past that had fallen just short.

Somehow the past ended up throwing a touchdown pass to the future in their last game together. Maybe fittingly for this Ohio State team, which changed its profile with a sometimes bumpy midyear quarterback switch, it still wasn't enough.

Though the Buckeyes took the lead with 2:05 to play, a 26-yard touchdown pass from Texas star Colt McCoy to Quan Cosby with 16 seconds remaining left the Buckeyes to end their third consecutive season in defeat, No. 3 Texas taking the Fiesta Bowl over the No. 10 Buckeyes, 24-21, on Monday night.

"It's a loss. We can't be proud of close," Pryor said. "It's the type of game you've got to take over. We've got to win these games. Hanging with them is not good enough."

At halftime, and once again in the final minutes, the Buckeyes (10-3) had felt so good.

Running back Beanie Wells was the last Ohio State player to hit the tunnel at halftime, pumping his helmet in the air twice as a scarlet corner of University of Phoenix Stadium greeted the Buckeyes like conquering heroes.

They'd won the first half.

Compared to the last two national title games, this was progress. But against the most efficient offense in college football history, it didn't look like it would be enough.

Striking with hurried precision, Texas (12-1) showed off the Big 12 type of offense that everyone had been waiting for during a devastating third-quarter performance. The Longhorns managed 14 first downs in the quarter while the Buckeyes couldn't muster a single one.

While McCoy picked apart the middle of the Ohio State defense, the Buckeyes sputtered. Two touchdowns during the quarter gave Texas a 17-6 lead entering the final 15 minutes, and it looked like Ohio State might send out its seniors with nothing more than a moral victory.

Against an offense that was in the top 10 in the country in yards (476) and points (44) per game, the Buckeyes early-on lived up to their billing as the best defense Texas had faced this season. At halftime, the Buckeyes held a 204 to 189 edge in yards and a 6-3 lead on the scoreboard.

Holding an offense that had scored at least 28 points in every game this season without a first-half touchdown was an accomplishment. Ohio State fans, who outnumbered Texas fans in a stadium that also featured empty seats despite the claim of a sellout, were right to be cheering.

But the Buckeyes didn't take that early defense and take control of the game. An OSU offense that played three games this season without scoring an offensive touchdown was held without a first-half touchdown itself. The Buckeyes managed just three field goal tries, a 51-yard make by Aaron Pettrey, a 51-yard miss by Pettrey and a 30-yard make for Ryan Pretorius.

That was enough for a lead, Texas held to one field goal, with another opportunity snuffed out by an Anderson Russell interception of McCoy on the goal line in the final seconds of the first half.

That play helped spur the tide of good feelings that carried the Buckeyes off the field.

Ohio State trailed Florida, 34-14, at the half two years ago in this stadium on the way to a 41-14 loss. Last year, the Buckeyes trailed LSU, 24-10, at the half on the way to a 38-24 loss.

This loss would be closer, something that the 2009 team that should be dominated by Pryor and his class could build on.

Matt York/Associated PressWhen Dan Herron burst through the Texas line for a touchdown in the final minutes, it appeared the Buckeyes would pull off the upset of the No. 3-ranked Longhorns.

Then the Ohio State offense -- with the two quarterbacks that Jim Tressel had guaranteed would play at once -- started putting it back together.

Boeckman answered with a 48-yard completion over coverage that Brian Robiskie caught on his fingertips with a full-on dive. That set up a 44-yard Pettrey field goal that cut the lead to 17-9 early in the fourth quarter.

The Buckeyes did it without Wells, who suffered a concussion in the fourth quarter and did not return.

"The coaches wouldn't let me back in the game," Wells said. "I had blurry vision."

There was more to come. The Ohio State defense forced a punt and the Buckeyes responded with an 80-yard drive, Pryor slicing apart the Texas defense with his feet. And in the end, he finished the drive with his hands.

After lining up repeatedly as a decoy receiver with Boeckman under center, Pryor got his shot, outjumping Texas safety Blake Gideon for a 5-yard touchdown with 7:26 to play. But the 2-point conversion to tie failed, and it looked the Boeckman-Pryor connection might be nothing more than a friendly end to a season in which not every Buckeye loved the way the quarterback change was made.

Then the Buckeyes did it again.

A 73-yard drive that lasted more than four minutes, featuring both quarterbacks again, ended with Dan Herron hitting the end zone on a 15-yard run for a 21-17 lead.

The Buckeyes were leaping on the sideline. For both the present and the past, this would be different. This season, which started with national title hopes, would at least end with a win.

Not against this Texas offense, which went 78 yards in 1:49. Ohio State had to settle for getting a little closer.

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